Easy Access, the Story of Quill

by Graphite Quill

The Feathered Complication Pt.4

Author's Note:

Here's a small-ish one for you since I've been lacking again lately, mostly written a piece at a time while at work. Peace fellow pones! {T}

Graphite was awoken from his nap by a knocking sound at his rooms door. Sluggishly he slid off the bed and cast a few spells to make himself presentable before opening the door with his magic. There stood the same griffon that showed him to his room earlier that day, with a tired looking Princess behind him. "Sir Quill dinner will be served soon. I was asked to show you to the dining room."

Graphite walked out into the hall with a grunt of acknowledgement following behind walking beside Luna. When he took another look at her he noticed her mane was stuck out in every direction and her coat was uneven. "You look like hell. Forget your brush back in Canterlot?" He joked.

Luna looked at herself, shrugged then started talking. "You look," Finally looking at Graphite she was surprised to see his coat and mane in perfect order. "strangely well put together for one who was just awakened. How did you put yourself together so quickly? We had only knocked the one time before you opened the door."

"I used magic. Do you mean to tell me that you actually use a brush when you have all that magical talent?"

She shrugged again. "I focused more on battle magic rather than cosmetic magic like my sister. I will have to ask her about it at some point."

"In the meantime I could do the same for you if you're willing. I rather like the bedraggled look but I doubt Celestia would be happy." He said with a smirk.

A third shrug. "By all means feel free, I trust that you can handle casting the spell on me. This way at least I will not have to listen to my sister complain about my appearance."

-=-=-=-

They arrived at the dining room slightly more alert after their conversation and Graphite's grooming spell. Luna had shivered at the touch of another's magic enjoying the feeling of every hair being cleansed and straightened. She was starting to regret not broadening her knowledge of passive magic. Graphite had forgotten about the side effects of his spell and nearly gasped when he felt every inch of Luna's body from horn to hoof. He decided to distract himself with thoughts of the meal he was about to have which included a few different kinds of meat.

Upon entering the dining room Graphite smiled, smelling the cooking meat wafting into the room from somewhere nearby. Princess Celestia sat at the table pausing in her conversation with Brennus to greet the two with a smile of her own.

"Good evening Luna. Good evening Graphite. Glad you could join us."

Luna was the first to return the greeting. "Of course dear sister, I would never miss a chance of dining on griffon cuisine."

Graphite simply nodded in reply to Celestia's greeting, his mind on other things as they sat. Brennus was at the head of the table, wife to his left and Celestia in the first seat to his right on the side of the long rectangular table. Luna sat to the opposite side of her sister with Graphite taking the seat next to her. As the time passed the servants passed back and forth bringing more and more food to the table with everyone in attendance filling their plates as the food arrived. As the last of the food arrived a smaller young griffoness arrived unsteadily carrying a pitcher of wine on a platter on her back.

Graphite noticed the trouble the young griffoness was having and took the pitcher from the platter filling his own cup before setting it on the table. The young griffoness seemed confused at first before turning back to the kitchen with the platter. Luna was the next to fill her cup which caused Graphite to notice her plate consisted mostly of meat and very little of anything else. Since Celestia was talking to Brennus he turned his complete attention towards Luna. "Luna can you even eat all that without getting sick?"

Luna having been focused on her own meal barely heard his question but still managed an answer. "This is only the first plate, of course I can." Tearing her gaze from her plate she saw that he had a few steaks as well. "Are you sure that you can eat all that? I have only seen one pony that could eat that much meat in one sitting and he was," she paused scrunching up her face. "different."

"This is only my first plate, of course I can." He replied with a smug grin.

Luna laughed giving him a playful shove. "Fair enough."

Unbeknownst to the pair Celestia's conversation ended just in time to hear their banter. Their playful nature brought a smile to her face, it had been some time since she had last seen Luna so happy. When Luna returned she had been withdrawn, shy, and ignorant of the ways of modern ponies. She had picked up the newer style of speech rather quickly but was unable to come out her shell of guilt and shame, even with Celestia's help. Recently however that had all changed, and Celestia knew the timing was no coincidence. Luna started showing signs of her old self from before the nightmare, right around the time that Graphite became a noble and started to frequent the castle. Although she would consider Graphite a friend, she would not deny her doubts about his true nature. Something seemed off about his character and she wasn't sure of his purpose, but she also couldn't deny how much he has helped Luna.

All ate in silence each enjoying their own different meals. Celestia was the only one at the table not eating any meat, however most of the served dishes included meat which left her little to choose from. Brennus seemed to notice her plight. "Princess Celestia, if nothing on the table suits your tastes I can send for some more vegetarian dishes to be brought out. My apologies for the servants lack of tact, it seems they have grown used to serving only meat. Seven!" At his call the same small white and blue griffoness that served the wine rushed out of the kitchen to stand at his side. "Ah there you are. Go and get more food from the kitchen, the stuff without meat in it. Now be gone and be quick!"

Celestia seemed unperturbed and thanked him. Meanwhile Graphite slowed his eating, losing interest in favor of watching the interaction between slave and owner. Seven returned with a platter of vegetables and fruits that was far too large for her to carry. She slowly made her way to the table barely able to take each step under the weight. Just as she neared the table in between Celestia and Brennus the platter started to tip over in the direction of her master. Quickly, Graphite took the platter and everything on it into his magic levitating it over to himself and adding some grapes to his plate of meat before setting it down on the table near Celestia. As he released his magic he noticed Celestia's smirk, thinking nothing of it he returned to his food and dinner progressed as normal.

-=-=- Graphite -=-=-

"May I barrow Sir Quill for a moment Luna?" Celestia asked after they all left the dining room. "I wish to speak with him in private."

Oh shit. What'd I do now?

"That is not up to me sister, but I was planning on going back to my room to sleep some more anyway. You know how it is for me after riding in that deathtrap." Luna said with a yawn before continuing down the hall.

"Whats going on? Did I do something wrong?" I asked confused.

"Follow me." She said.

Could this be about the meat? I mean I know it's not exactly common for unicorns to eat meat but I was sure she'd have seen it before. I probably shouldn't have ate as much as I did now that I think about it, I might be in for a hard night if my pony body can't handle it. I probably should have thought that through more but damn that was some good steak!

We headed down a hallway I had yet to explore and made it to large glass double doors that led outside to a type of patio area. Out in the yard was a garden being tended to by a few griffon servants including the very same young white griffoness that served our last few dishes. She looked terrified to be outside, constantly glancing around at every voice. I looked away from her to see Celestia staring at me smiling. I felt my eyebrow raise as I asked. "What?"

"I just wanted to talk about a few things that happened at dinner. Nothing to worry about."

Then why does it feel like I'm about to be interrogated? "OK, like what? Nothing really happened as far as I recall."

"Well for starters, the young griffoness who 'served' us wine. At first I thought you were just thirsty and in a hurry for a drink when you took it from her, but you never touched your wine after that. I found it odd but I didn't think very much of it until our host asked for more food that I would eat." She looked over to the young griffon in the garden with a frown on her face. "The poor young griffoness carrying all that at once? A disaster waiting to happen." She then looked back at me smiling again. "To get to the point, I saw her trip and I saw you catch both her and the food. What you did next made me realize that you were trying to hide her accidents."

Perceptive as ever Celly. "You're wondering why I would help." It came out more as a statement than a question.

"Exactly." She said nodding.

"I did it because if I didn't, and I let her get in trouble she'd likely be beaten."

"How did you come to that conclusion? I've seen no signs of abuse on any of the servants so far, and besides it isn't an uncommon occurrence around here. As much as I hate to admit it, it does happen but there's no law against it here."

"Look under her wings the next chance you get. Actually just scan her, she has several poorly mended breaks in her wings that were likely never treated." I noticed earlier at dinner that she had to strain to use her wings for anything.

A few moments later, looking completely confused and awed she spoke. "You are not wrong about her wings, I am surprised you were able to use such a spell." Shaking her head she returned to the topic. "What am I supposed to see under her wings?"

The griffoness had yet to raise her wings so I decided to take a more direct approach. "Seven!"

The young griffon nearly jumped out of her own skin at hearing the name but still ran up to me without delay. Cowering she spoke in a small voice. "Yes, Sir Quill?"

"Raise your wings and stand still." With a small 'Eep' she did as requested, straining to keep them up. "There." I said trying to keep a neutral face, when internally I was pissed. Under her wings were fresh untreated shallow claw marks on her body and more on her wing where feathers should have been. "Lower them." I said trying and failing to keep the anger from my voice. I find that it's rather difficult for me to not go looking for that fat-ass griffon to return the favor.

Comments

[Wickedkingken]

hes not helping himself Celestia going to ask questions

[Alfaridwan Setiabudi]

More please

[Icy Creation]

I like this story.

I still have but the one, “complaint,” about it. This is one of my two favorite stories in my tracking list, actually.

[TheDragonSage]

She shrugged again. "I focused more on battle magic rather than cosmic magic like my sister. I will have to ask her about it at some point."

....cosmic?, cosmic?!?, does Celestia use the fucking Stars to brush her hair?

Or did you mean cosmetic?

[tsaukpaetra]

Here we go! Let's see him steal a chick!

[ramdom_player201]

So, I forget what Graphite's cutie mark was, it's not really been brought up.
Also, his wings haven't been mentioned since he grew them, at all. That's a sizeable plot point that has been ignored.